What is this?

I hope this is the right forum for this tree.


My wife and I were driving around taking pictures of trees we like. We recently bought a new house and are landscaping. I have seen this tree all over and love it. I live in Central Florida. I have not seen it at Home Depot, Lowes, Super Wal-Mart, etc. and was wondering what its name is and if anyone knows where I could get one.

Thanks!
Eric

 

Araucaria heterophylla

 

Note that Home Depot etc. are not nurseries, if you are looking for a particular plant their very limited selections may not be very likely to include it.

 

One thing to watch out for - I've read that in Florida, it tends to get occasional frost damage. This results in forked trees with weakly attached new trunks which are very liable to break in hurricanes. It went on to say "Some coastal communities (e.g. Vero Beach) prohibit their use as a tree in local landscape plan approvals"

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/66/MVC-897S.JPG - photo of forked tree with subsequent hurricane damage

 

Thanks for all the info! I think I may get one but place it far away from the house. That is good to know that they are bad in hurricanes. I wish I could buy a dwarf one.